WHAT we normally hear in such places is jail break, with scores of inmates fleeing. But what came out of the Ikoyi Correctional Centre in Lagos on Monday beats one hands down.
I did not believe it when I first heard about the electrocution of six inmates there. I thought some inmates were at it again in their bid to escape. By the time the full report came in, the import of what happened dawned on everybody. The incident was avoidable, but in the usual manner of those in authority, they glossed over the welfare of the inmates.
Our prisons are not what they should be. They are overcrowded and smelly. A cell meant for 20 inmates is holding 150. In such a situation, if there is an emergency, there will be many casualties, like what happened on Monday.
Prison inmates deserve the best of care, no matter the crime they might have committed. Perhaps, this was why the government renamed the prison service, correctional centre.
The prison is not meant to harden an inmate, but to reform and prepare him for his return into society. This should begin with how the inmate is treated while in custody. His stay in prison should be made as comfortable as possible to enable him have a change of heart about leading a world of crime.
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Those who died in Ikoyi were not trying to escape. They died because of the carelessness of those who should care for them. There is no point crying over spilt milk.
It is not now that the prison Comptroller-General Ja’faru Ahmed will be telling us that the inmates were held in overcrowded cells. There is nothing new in what he said. We have always known that.
The question is what has he done to better the lot of prison inmates nationwide. He should not wait for another tragedy before coming out to tell us about overcrowded cells and other problems with our correctional facilities. My heart goes out to the inmates and their families.
Their families deserve compensation for the way the the inmates’ lives were wasted. A prisoner’s life is as precious as the life of any other citizen.
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